Monday, April 29, 2013

MILANA'S PIZZERIA - LONG BEACH

Yup, you read it right. My new favorite... but it takes some effort, read on:

Came across this place on yelp.com while looking for a quick bite while CantStayJose and I were watching the fights at my pad.

Even though this place is on 4th street and I'm on 21st, it's only a mile-and-a-half away so they delivered without a problem. Usual wait is 45min but worth it.

After I talked CantStayJose into calling them, we agreed to get half pepperoni and half "Hawaiian". I can't believe I ordered a Hawaiian pizza, I used to always make fun of it. But my 2 year old, Nalu, appreciates it. Gotta get him some sweet slices for his young palette. Pepperoni is still kinda strong for da little Bu.

The pizza itself, in its shape, is New York Style. And yes, I've had pizza in New York. In fact, I've eaten at 4 different pizzerias on my first night in NY, which you can read about here. The pizza itself from Milana's was decent, ingredients weren't much different from other spots. A very good change from the usual pies we have around these parts - Santa Fe
Importers has decent pizza, but they close early. Buono's service is
fucked (2 hours for a pizza?). I'm definitely not eating pizza from a chain store. And Big E's can be good, but it's juuuust too far away from the west side..

This is the part where you need to put in a little effort to make Milana's into a GREAT pizza.First thing I noticed was the crust. Pizza in NYC paid attention to their crust. I'm not talking about the crust on the outer edge, I'm talking about what's under the pie. Milana's was doughy, too soft. It needed crispness; first thing I said after I took my first bite. So what I did the next the day with a couple of cold slices was heat up a pan at medium-high heat. Spray or pour in a little butter or cooking oil. Soon as the pan is ready, put your slice in. Right when you see the top of the slice starting to "sweat", you're ready to eat (photo is of a cold slice). I SWEAR THE PIZZA WAS SO MUCH BETTER AFTER THAT. Maybe not as good asBleeker Street Pizza in Manhattan, but pretty fucking good for Long Beach!

My mom used to do the same type of thing for take-out food when I was a kid. When I'd tell her "I put the left over chow fun in the microwave and it doesn't taste that good". She'd put it in a pan, add a little bit of something-something, then it'd be fucking great.